Got Nature? Blog

While researchers say it is difficult to determine whether unusual weather patterns this winter and spring will lead to larger mosquito and tick populations in the Upper Midwest this summer, one thing is certain – anyone planning to spend time outdoors should take steps to avoid the potentially dangerous pests.

“Every year we face the same risks and every year it is wise to take precautions,” said Catherine Hill, Purdue University medical entomologist. “If you’re going to be outside anytime from early spring to late summer and early fall, you need to be thinking about prevention and protection.”

Both mosquitos and ticks can carry a number of pathogens that could pose a serious threat to people and animals. Mosquitos can transmit several viruses that can cause severe encephalitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal cord), including Zika and West Nile virus, among others. Ticks are known carriers of Lyme disease, which infects about 300,000 people each year, as well as less common but equally dangerous conditions such as anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Powassan and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

To avoid mosquito bites, the best advice is to stay indoors during peak biting times, which is typically dusk to dawn for the mosquitoes that transmit West Nile virus and during the day for mosquitoes that transmit Zika.

“If you have to be outside during those times, it is best to wear clothing that can help prevent bites,” Hill said. Appropriate wardrobe choices include long-sleeve shirts and long pants tucked into socks. It is also advisable to use an effective repellant, such as products containing a minimum of 20 to 30 percent – of diethyltoluamide, commonly known as DEET. The Centers for Disease Control also recommends products containing picaridin, lemon of eucalyptus and IR3535. More information is available on the CDC website at Mosquitoes, Ticks and Other Arthropods.

Mosquitoes breed in standing water and their larvae and pupae need water to develop. Homeowners can help reduce mosquito populations in their back yard by dumping standing water out of buckets and wading pools, keeping lawns mowed and removing piles of brush or yard waste, Hill said.

Ticks can thrive in back yards as well, particularly those adjacent heavily wooded areas, in tall grass and brush and under leaf piles.

Hill said the warmer winter and wet spring could have created ideal conditions for ticks in some areas although conditions vary significantly from region to region.

“We’ve already been getting plenty of ticks,” Hill said. “They’re certainly active.”

The best defense against ticks is to wear light colored clothing with long sleeves and pants and to use a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-approved repellant. It is also a good idea to check your body and clothing for ticks immediately after coming back indoors.

“If you can remove a tick within 24 hours, you have a very good chance of catching them before they transmit,” Hill said.

Ticks feed on blood and tend to attach themselves to tender areas of the skin, including around the hairline and in the armpit and groin.

For the full article, see Purdue Agriculture News.

Resources:
Mosquitoes, Purdue Extension Entomology
Indiana Department of Health
Mosquitoes In and Around the Home, The Education Store, Purdue Extension’s resource center
Community-Wide Mosquito Management, Purdue Extension – Engomology
Mosquitoes and ticks – little pests carry big risks – Got Nature? Blog, Purdue Extension – Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR)
Mosquitoes carrying Zika virus can be controlled and avoided – Got Nature? Blog, Purdue Extension – FNR
Field Season Upon Us! Be Prepared – Got Nature? Blog, Purdue Extension – FNR
Excess Rain and Pond Integrity – Got Nature? Blog, Purdue Extension – FNR
Health & Wellness Lessons, The Nature of Teaching

Darrin J Pack, Writer/Editor
Purdue University Department of Agricultural Communication

Catherine A Hill, Professor of Entomology/Vector Biology
Purdue University Department of Entomology

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Eastern Hellbender We have written about the Eastern Hellbender salamander (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) in this blog multiple times. It is a unique species and plays an important role in the aquatic ecosystem in which it inhabits. Unfortunately, the species has been declining throughout much of its range over the past several decades and can no longer be found in many of the rivers and streams where it used to be common. In Indiana, the Eastern Hellbender can only be found in the Blue River. However, this population is also declining and without intervention will likely disappear within the next 20 years. To help prevent this, Purdue University’s “Help the Hellbender” has teamed with Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden (MPZ) to attempt to captive breed the Eastern Hellbender. Purdue University biologists have been capturing wild Eastern Hellbenders from the Blue River and transporting them to MPZ. MPZ has built an indoor stream designed to mimic the conditions in the Blue River. They have followed the advice of members of the highly successful Ozark Hellbender subspecies (C. a. bishopi) breeding program at St. Louis Zoo. Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden zookeeper, Bryan Plis, places a wild Eastern Hellbender into the new breeding raceway If successful, this captive population will provide a long-term, easily accessible source of young Hellbenders for eventual release. This will allow us to continue to repopulate the Blue River while expanding our release efforts to include other southern Indiana rivers with suitable habitat. The breeding program also will reduce the need to spend countless hours searching the river in the hopes of finding increasingly rare Hellbender nests. Through these efforts we will hopefully be able to reestablish self-sustaining populations of Hellbenders throughout southern Indiana and help prevent the extinction of a truly magnificent animal. For more ways you can help, please visit HelptheHellbender.org.

Resources:
Mesker Park Zoo: Helping the Hellbender , Purdue Extension-Forestry and Natural Resources, YouTube
Help the Hellbender, Purdue Extension-Forestry and Natural Resources
Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden
Hellbender Information, St. Louis Zoo
Purdue Partners with Indiana Zoos for Hellbender Conservation, Purdue Newsroom
I found this in my barn. Is it a Hellbender?, Purdue Got Nature?, Forestry and Natural Resources

Nick Burgmeier, Research Biologist and Extension Wildlife Specialist
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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Students in Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) continue to volunteer for Hands of the Future, Inc., a non-profit program whose mission is to help educate children about the outdoors and natural resources. As this program continues to grow, one of their dreams has been to find woods to create a children’s forest. To have a natural site that has been embellished upon with children’s needs in mind and to encourage outdoor play and adventures.

The students plan on transforming 18.8 acres of idle woods into Zonda’s Children’s Forest. The children’s forest will be composed of six main areas:

1. A children’s garden, equipped with a greenhouse and kitchen, that’ll allow children to learn how to properly grow and cook food.
2. An enclosed area dedicated to allowing children having fun and safe adventures.
3. A viewing area for butterflies, birds and other organisms of the wild, allowing children to easily enjoy the life of the forest.
4. A maze designed by sunflowers, where children can have fun and do problem-solving, while close to nature.
5. A walk dedicated to viewing the owls and other organisms composing the forest.
6. Another enclosed area of the woods for adventures; However, it’ll also contain tree houses, bridges and other fun additions for the children.

Donations:
Donations to help make Zonda’s Children’s Forest a reality can be made here. They have six months to raise $235,000 in order to purchase the woods.

Volunteers & Interns:
Older students and adults can apply to be a volunteer. Volunteers are always appreciated, no past experience necessary. If you love nature and kids you will enjoy this program. Internships are available for college students, contact Zonda Bryant.

Resources:
Family Nature Clubs in Indiana – Indiana Children and Nature Network

Zonda Bryant, Director
765.366.9126
director@hands-future.org

 

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I have been asked some variation of this question multiple times over the past several years. Sometimes the “hellbender” is found in a barn, on a basement floor, crawling across a driveway, or occasionally in a pond. The common denominator is always that someone has found a salamander, and they are concerned it is an Eastern Hellbender that needs help.

I appreciate this concern. I am glad to see that people have become more aware of the existence of the Eastern Hellbender and that it is something worth helping. The Eastern Hellbender is an endangered species in Indiana, and we always welcome reports from concerned citizens. However, the Eastern Hellbender is a very rare species in Indiana and is uncommon throughout most of its range in the eastern United States. The species has been declining in Indiana over the past several decades and is now known only from the Blue River in Washington, Harrison, and Crawford Counties. For this reason alone, it is unlikely that anyone would find a Hellbender on their property.

However, another equally important reason that it is unlikely a Hellbender involves the species biology. The Eastern Hellbender is fully aquatic and lives exclusively in rivers and streams. Unlike most amphibians, its primary means of respiration is by absorbing oxygen directly from the water through its skin. One adaptation Hellbenders have evolved to help with oxygen absorption is the development of wavy skin-folds along the sides of their bodies. These skin-folds provide greater surface area for oxygen absorption. Hellbenders have lungs, but they do not function well enough to allow them to survive extended periods of time on land. Hellbenders have been found on land immediately next to rivers and streams, but this is rare and is generally considered an anomaly.

While this rules out finding them on land away from rivers and streams, what about ponds and lakes? Hellbenders typically prefer clean, cool, swift flowing rivers and streams with a high oxygen content. These conditions are not typically found in ponds and lakes, and would make it unlikely that hellbenders would willingly reside in them. Moreover, these water bodies are usually landlocked with no close access from rivers and streams, and since hellbenders do not like to travel overland, they will likely never encounter a pond or lake.

There are two unlikely possibilities that might result in a Hellbender being found in a pond or lake. The first would be if someone captured a hellbender and moved it there. The second would be a pond or lake owner that lives in the floodplain of a river containing Hellbenders. Hellbenders do occasionally get dislodged by flooding and washed downstream. A large flood has the potential, however unlikely, to wash a Hellbender into a nearby pond. I am unaware of this ever happening, but it is a possibility.

So if you haven’t found a Hellbender, what have you found? If you found your salamander on land, it is very likely one of a group of salamanders known as mole salamanders. Mole salamanders are common throughout most of Indiana. They typically breed in ponds in the spring and then hide under logs or bury themselves underground. They are commonly found during spring breeding migrations and are frequently seen in large numbers. They often times find themselves wandering onto our properties and getting stuck in window wells or hiding themselves under rocks, firewood, or in our barns.

If you found your salamander in the water then it could be either the aforementioned mole salamander or a Common Mudpuppy. Mudpuppies are commonly confused with hellbenders and do live in ponds, wetlands, and creeks. Like the Hellbender, they are fully aquatic and don’t go on land except in very rare circumstances. Mudpuppies have large, fluffy gills behind their heads, which Hellbenders do not have. Mudpuppies also lack the skins folds along the sides of their bodies.

While most people will go their entire lives without ever seeing a Hellbender, if you live in the right areas it is a possibility. If you think you have seen a Hellbender, then please take a photo and let us know by visiting our Hellbender Reporting Webpage below. We are always happy to help.

Resources:
Hellbender ID – video, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
HelptheHellbender.org, Purdue Extension
Help the Hellbender: North America’s Giant Salamander, The Education Store
Salamanders of Indiana, The Education Store
Appreciating Reptiles and Amphibians, The Education Store

Nick Burgmeier, Research Biologist and Extension Wildlife Specialist
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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If you or someone you know loves to learn about wildlife, especially reptiles and amphibians, then you will be interested in our new special offer package. We are offering our complete collection of reptile and amphibian field guides (4 softcover books) for 10% of the price of each individual book. These books cover all of the reptiles and amphibians that are found in the state of Indiana. They include detailed physical descriptions, distribution maps, and interesting information about the ecology of each species. All of the included books have been peer-reviewed by experts in the field of herpetology.

The Indiana Amphibian and Reptile ID Package can be purchased from the Purdue Education Store for $36.00.

Additional Resources, The Education Store, Purdue Extension:
Frogs and Toads of Indiana
Salamanders of Indiana
Snakes and Lizards of Indiana
Turtles of Indiana

More Resources Available:
Help the Hellbender, Purdue Extension
The Nature of Teaching, Lesson Plans K-12, Purdue Extension

Nick Burgmeier, Research Biologist and Extension Wildlife Specialist
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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Frogs and Toads of Indiana is the latest and final addition to Purdue Extension’s line of field guides focused on the reptiles and amphibians of Indiana. Readers of this guide will not only learn how to ID the Anuran species of Indiana but will also learn about their distribution throughout the state along with their habits and behaviors. The guide is richly illustrated, filled with interesting facts, and has been peer-reviewed by expert herpetologists.

As many herpetologists and recreational herpers can attest, seeing what you are hearing is not always possible. With this in mind, we developed a website The Frogs and Toads of Indiana for users that wish to learn the calls of Indiana Anuran species.

The Frogs and Toads of Indiana, FNR-516, can be purchased from the The Education Store for $10.00.

Resources, The Education Store-Purdue Extension resource center:
Salamanders of Indiana
Snakes and Lizards of Indiana
Snakes of the Central and Northeastern United States
Turtles of Indiana

Additional resources:
The Nature of Teaching, Lesson Plans K-12, Purdue Extension

Nick Burgmeier, Research Biologist and Extension Wildlife Specialist
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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It’s Arbor Day again, and it’s time to celebrate the importance of trees. The fact that trees are essential to both humans and wildlife is well-established. However, most people think of trees in the context of oxygen production, wood products, and habitat for wildlife such as squirrels and birds. I’d like to focus on one of the less well-known services that trees provide, keeping water clean. This service not only benefits people but also aquatic wildlife like the Hellbender salamander.

The Hellbender salamander is North America’s largest salamander. It is fully aquatic, living its entire life in rivers and streams throughout the midwest and southeast. Hellbenders require cool, clean rivers and streams with rocky substrates to thrive and reproduce. Unfortunately, over the past few decades the species has declined or disappeared from many of these areas. There are several causes that scientists suspect, but the loss of trees due to increases in agriculture and urban/suburban areas is at the top of the list.

Trees do a number of things to keep our water clean. The forest canopy intercepts rainfall and slows the rate at which water enters the ground. This helps reduce flooding. Trees provide shade to rivers and streams thus keeping them cool and allowing for higher levels of dissolved oxygen. Trees also filter nutrients and chemicals from runoff, preventing them from entering streams. One of the most important functions that trees provide is stabilizing our riverbanks and hillsides and preventing sediment from entering the stream and changing our rocky river bottoms to mud bottoms. These functions are especially important in our modern landscape, where agriculture and hard surfaces dominate many areas.

All of these functions help to create a clean environment for Hellbenders and other aquatic wildlife to live. Without trees, it is likely that our rivers and streams would be too dirty for many species to survive. If you are looking for a way to help the Hellbender, then please consider planting a tree this Arbor Day. Several Arbor Day celebrations for 2017 will be held on Saturday, April 29th. Check out activities around your area: Purdue Extension County Offices, Indiana Department of Natural Resources or Tippecanoe Soil & Water Conservation District.

For more ways you can help, please visit Help the Hellbender.org.

Resources:
Rainscaping, Purdue Extension
How Anglers and Paddlers Can Help the Hellbender, The Education Store-Purdue Extension resource center
Hellbender ID, The Education Store
Improving Water Quality by Protecting Sinkholes on Your Property, The Education Store
Improving Water Quality at Your Livestock Operation video, The Education Store
Healthy Water, Happy Home – Lesson Plan, The Education Store
Tree Planting Part 1: Choosing a Tree video, The Education Store
Tree Planting Part 2: Planting Your Tree video, The Education Store
Tree Installation: Process and Practices, The Education Store

Nick Burgmeier, Research Biologist and Extension Wildlife Specialist
Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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Cerulean Warbler captured in a mist net being processed by researchers.

Our oak-hickory forests provide us with many environmental, social and economic benefits. Without proper stewardship, these benefits and services can be reduced. Professional foresters have an innovative set of management options for the maintenance of healthy forest ecosystems. But some options raise public objections when applied to public lands (e.g., types of timber harvest, prescribed fire) and the effects of some management options on forests and their native inhabitants are poorly understood. Moreover, forest lands in the Indiana and Midwestern United States primarily are in small privately-owned parcels that change ownership relatively frequently. These lands are often managed for short-term financial gains rather than long-term sustainability.

To address this set of issues, the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment (HEE), a long-term, large-scale experimental study of forest management and its impacts, was initiated in 2006. Two new videos developed from the HEE provide managers and landowners insights into sustaining our oak forests as well as how some wildlife responses respond to timber harvesting.

Videos:
Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment – Sustaining Our Oak-Hickory Forests, FNR-542-WV, The Education Store
Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment – Wildlife Responses to Timber Harvesting, FNR-543-W,The Education Store

Other resources:
Breeding Birds and Forest Management: the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment and the Central Hardwoods Region, The Education Store-Purdue Extension
The Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment: Indiana Forestry and Wildlife, The Education Store
Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment

Brian MacGowan, Extension Wildlife Specialist
Department of Forestry & Natural Resources, Purdue University

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Prescribed fire is an important and effective wildlife habitat management and forestry tool. When used correctly, fire can improve habitat for a variety of wildlife species, forage for cattle, and conditions for oak regeneration among other things. Here are 6 things to consider before you light a prescribed fire in order to ensure it is conducted safely and effectively.

(1) What are your management objectives?
The management objectives you hope to accomplish with prescribed fire need to be outlined in your burn plan. Determining your management objectives will dictate how, when, and how often you burn. For example, you may not burn at the same frequency, in the same season, or with the same firing techniques if you were managing a field of native grasses for grassland songbirds vs. managing your woods for white-tailed deer. For grassland songbirds, you may burn a native-grass field with strip-heading fire during the dormant season every 1-2 years, whereas for white-tailed deer you should burn the woods with a low-intensity backing fire during the dormant or late-growing season every 3-5 years.

(2) Do you have a burn plan?
A well-written burn plan should address all relevant components of the prescribed fire and will answer all the other questions listed below. The plan should include management objectives, the weather prescriptions for the burn, the fuel type(s) (native grass, leaf litter, etc.) being burned, location and make-up of the firebreaks (bare soil, road, creek, etc.), equipment and personnel needed, who to contact before and after the burn, smoke sensitive areas (schools, hospitals, roads), proposed firing techniques, safety considerations, and contingency plan. The burn plan should also include a map of the burn unit and surrounding area. This will help to identify potential hazards or areas where the fire might escape.

(3) Are your firebreaks in place?
Inadequate firebreaks are a common safety hazard when conducting a prescribed fire and a very likely place for an escape! The firebreak width and composition necessary to conduct your prescribed fire safely should be outlined in your burn plan and firebreaks should be inspected the day of the burn. DO NOT ignite a fire with inadequate firebreaks or if all firebreaks have not been inspected.Mowed cool-season grasses are not ideal firebreaks but they can be used. Dead plant material (thatch) can accumulate in cool-season grass firebreaks following mowing, and this could allow the fire to creep through the firebreak. If you do have mowed cool-season grass firebreaks, make sure thatch has not accumulated and watch them closely during the fire to ensure fire doesn’t creep through the break. You should also consider using water to create a “wet-line” firebreak to contain the fire.Bare soil creates the best man-made firebreak.Bare soil firebreaks can be created by disking, tilling, or bulldozing. Empty crop fields, green growing vegetation with no thatch (clover, wheat, alfalfa in the spring), paved, dirt, or gravel roads, and streams, creeks, or rivers also make great firebreaks. In the woods, a leaf blower can be used to remove leaf litter and expose bare mineral soil. Firebreaks should be at least 3 times the width of the adjacent vegetation. In fields of native grasses, firebreaks should be 15-50 feet. By mowing the grasses directly adjacent (10-20 feet) to a firebreak, you can reduce the necessary firebreak width. In the woods, firebreaks only need to be 3-10 feet in width, especially when using only backing fire.

(4) Have you notified the right people about the burn?
Your burn plan should outline who you need to call before and after a prescribed fire. Important people you should call before ignition are the county emergency dispatch (call the non-emergency number), local fire department, and adjacent landowners. You should also call the county dispatch after the fire is complete and extinguished.Calling the county dispatch and local fire department will make them aware of the prescribed fire and sometimes the local fire department might even be willing to lend a hand! Calling dispatch is important because they will likely receive calls from concerned citizens during the fire. Letting them know ahead of time that it is a “prescribed fire” and is being monitored will reduce the number of unnecessary trips by the local fire department.

(5) What are you going to do if the fire escapes?
Escapes do happen and you need to know what to do if your fire escapes. This is called a contingency or escaped fire plan and should be outlined in your burn plan. This plan outlines the roles each person plays if the fire escapes and determines at what point additional resources – fire department or others – should be called to assist in the suppression of the fire.

(6) Have you done your safety briefing?
The last step before ignition of a prescribed fire is the safety briefing. The safety briefing will familiarize personnel with the area, conditions of the firebreaks, weather conditions, radio communication, safety zones and escape routes, contingency plan, and other relevant information. This ensures all the personnel are on the same page when it comes to safely completing the prescribed fire!

Prescribed fire is an effective management tool, but is only effective if conducted safely! Safety on a prescribed fire is paramount and fires should only be conducted by experienced individuals. If you are interested in learning more about how and why to use prescribed fire on your property, contact your local IN-DNR wildlife biologist.

Additional Resources
Indiana DNR Prescribed Fire Factsheet (pdf), Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)
Indiana DNR State Parks Prescribed Fire, Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)
Indiana Woodland Steward Fire and Woodlands, Indiana Woodland Steward
Native Grasses, It’s Time for Management, Got Nature? blog, Purdue Extension-FNR

Jarred Brooke, Extension Wildlife Specialist;
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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Spring is a time of awakening for our forests as the cold temperatures slowly move to another part of the world and the first crop of buds appear on the trees. These delicate buds are the physical representation of energy stored by the tree over the winter for later use in leaf production. This splurging of energy in springtime is an effort by the tree to produce as many leaves as possible to initiate photosynthesis and carbon assimilation for growth. Unfortunately for the trees, these juicy new leaf bundles are an irresistible temptation for the grazing animals in need of nutrients to replenish those stores lost during winter.

How can the trees thwart these hungry ungulates? One would be led to believe that the sedentary nature of trees renders them defenseless. Fortunately, that is not the case. In a research study published earlier this year, scientists at Leipzig University and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) have found that European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) trees use chemical warfare to fight back against foraging roe deer (Capreolus capreolus).

In has been established in other forest species that feeding insects stimulate trees to produce chemicals to deter them from further feeding. This study is the first to present data that indicates that a tree species can identify and selectively defend against browsing deer. Manually clipping buds and leaves to simulate storm or mechanized (chainsaw) damage activated the jasmonic acid wound response pathways in both beech and maple but no defensive responses. However, introduction of deer saliva after clipping the buds and leaves led to increased production of salicylic acid (used in humans as a chemical exfoliant, antiseptic, and acne treatment) and tannins (bitter tasting substance used to cure leather and to make ink) in beech leaves with tannins and flavonol (used as an antioxidant in humans and also functions to block bacterial adhesion) being elevated in maple. These chemicals make the leaves and buds distasteful and difficult to digest.

The results of this study open up entirely new lines of research into tree defense responses. What types of responses do other tree species have? Do they produce stronger chemicals? Is deer browse preference based on the presence or absence of a chemical response? Do they wander from tree to tree to browse to avoid the full onslaught of the chemical response? I am certain that those are stories for another day.

Reference Materials
Scientific Literature: Ohse, B., Hammerbacher, A., Seele, C., Meldau, S., Reichelt, M., Ortmann, S., and Wirth, C. 2016. Salivary cues: simulated roe deer browsing induces systemic changes in phytohormones and defense chemistry in wild-grown maple and beech saplings. Functional Ecology doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12717.

Online site: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig. “Trees recognize roe deer by saliva: Smart defense mechanisms against browsing.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 12 September 2016. Last Accessed: October 10, 2016.

Resources:
Nuisance Wildlife, Indiana Department of Natural Resources-Fish and Wildlife
Wildlife Damage, Purdue Extension-Department of Forestry and Natural Resources
Preventing Wildlife Damage – Do You Need a Permit?, The Education Store, Purdue Extension
Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management (ICWDM), University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Shaneka Lawson, USDA Forest Service/HTIRC Research Plant Physiologist/Adjunct Assistant Professor
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

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