by Roland D. Hallee

Recently, in my travels throughout central Maine, I have seen an unusual number of opossums dead on our highways. There seems to be more and more of them present these days.

My first encounter with an opossum was in 1967 while living on Long Island, in New York. There was a stockade fence between the property where I was renting and the neighbor, and I found it laying, playing “possum,” along the fence.

I never really gave them much thought. Then I first started hearing about them in our area, then I began seeing them.

The opossum, Didelphis virginiana, is a marsupial endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 103 or more species in 19 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North America in the Great American Interchange following the connection of the two continents. Their unspecialized biology, flexible diet, and reproductive habits make them successful colonizers and survivors in diverse locations and conditions.

In the United States and Canada, the only species found is the Virginia opossum, and it is generally referred to as a “possum.

The word “opossum” is borrowed from the Powhatan language and was first recorded between 1607 and 1611 by John Smith (as opassom) and William Strachey (as aposoum). Both men encountered the language at the British settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, which Smith helped to found and where Strachey later served as its first secretary. Strachey’s notes describe the opossum as a “beast in bigness of a pig and in taste alike,” while Smith recorded it “hath an head like a swine … tail like a rat … of the bigness of a cat.” The Powhatan word ultimately derives from a Proto-Algonquian word meaning “white dog or dog-like beast.”

Opossums are usually solitary and nomadic, staying in one area as long as food and water are easily available. Some families will group together in ready-made burrows or even under houses. Though they will temporarily occupy abandoned burrows, they do not dig or put much effort into building their own. As nocturnal animals, they favor dark, secure areas. These areas may be below ground or above.

When threatened or harmed, they will “play possum,” mimicking the appearance and smell of a sick or dead animal. This physiological response is involuntary (like fainting), rather than a conscious act. In the case of baby opossums, however, the brain does not always react this way at the appropriate moment, and therefore they often fail to “play dead” when threatened. When an opossum is “playing possum,” the animal’s lips are drawn back, the teeth are bared, saliva foams around the mouth, the eyes close or half-close, and a foul-smelling fluid is secreted from the anal glands. The stiff, curled body can be poked at, turned over, and even carried away without reaction. The animal will typically regain consciousness after a period of a few minutes to four hours, a process that begins with slight twitching of the ears.

Threatened opossums (especially males) will growl deeply, raising their pitch as the threat becomes more urgent. Males make a clicking “smack” noise out of the side of their mouths as they wander in search of a mate, and females will sometimes repeat the sound in return. When separated or distressed, baby opossums will make a sneezing noise to signal their mother. The mother in return makes the clicking sound and waits for the baby to find her. If threatened, the baby will open its mouth and quietly hiss until the threat is gone.

Opossums eat dead animals, insects, rodents and birds. They also feed on eggs, frogs, plants, fruits and grain. One source notes their need for high amounts of calcium. Thus possums eat the skeletal remains of rodents and roadkill animals. Opossums also eat dog food, cat food and human food waste. Opossums are also notable for their ability to clean themselves of ticks, which they then eat. Some estimates suggest they can eliminate up to 5,000 ticks in a season.

With this in mind, if I do have opossum living under my steps, it would be nice if I could capture them and relocate them at camp where they would be very useful in controlling the tick population.

The Virginia opossum lives in regions as far north as Canada and as far south as Central America. The Virginia opossum can often be found in wooded areas, though its habitat may vary widely. Opossums have been moving north in recent years.

The Virginia opossum was once widely hunted and consumed in the United States. Opossum farms have been operated in the United States in the past. Sweet potatoes were eaten together with the possum in America’s southern area. South Carolina cuisine includes opossum, and President Jimmy Carter hunted opossums in addition to other small game. Raccoon, opossum, partridges, prairie hen, and frogs were among the fare Mark Twain recorded as part of American cuisine. “Granny” on the TV show Beverly Hillbillies was famous for her possum pie.

Opossum oil (possum grease) is high in essential fatty acids and has been used as a chest rub and a carrier for arthritis remedies given as topical salves.

Opossum pelts have long been part of the fur trade.

So, now you can add opossum to the list of dead critters to be looking for on the side of the road.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

What NBA Hall of Famer and 16-year veteran holds the Boston Celtics franchise record for most points scored?

Answer can be found here.

American eel

by Roland D. Hallee

Eels are a little scary. I know for a fact that eels exist in Webber Pond, in Vassalboro, because my wife and I have caught them. They also can be found in China Lake. This one goes back a while. I was a young lad in the 1950s, when I was probably about nine years old, and I remember being in an old wooden boat, with no motor, but oars, with my dad and an uncle. I don’t remember which one, but someone in the boat caught an eel, because my only recollection of that adventure was when they took out a cleaver-like knife and cut off its head on the gunwale of the boat. It was a white boat with red trim. By the way, that was the only time I can ever remember being on China Lake.

Another instance I have had with eels was catching one through the ice on Three Mile Pond one year back in the 1990s. We left it on the ice to die, and then scaled, gutted it, and cut it into chunks for dinner. I can remember the muscled fish “dancing” in the frying pan, and had the consistency of a scallop. We kind of altered the taste with a little garlic.

OK, so what about eels. They are slimy, and most people don’t want to be bothered with them.

Eels are elongated fish, ranging in length from two inches to 13 feet. I remember one time when my wife caught one that measured about 22 inches. They possess no pelvic fins, and many species also lack pectoral fins. The dorsal and anal fins are fused with the caudal fin, forming a single ribbon running along much of the length of the animal. Eels swim by generating waves which travel the length of their bodies. They can swim backwards by reversing the direction of the wave.

Freshwater eels have a slender, snake-like body that is covered with a mucus layer, which makes the eel appear to be naked and slimy despite the presence of minute scales. A long dorsal fin runs from the middle of the back and is continuous with a similar ventral fin. Pelvic fins are absent, and relatively small pectoral fins can be found near the midline, followed by the head and gill covers. Variations exist in coloration, from olive green, brown shading to greenish-yellow and light gray or white on the belly. Eels from clear water are often lighter than those from dark, tannic acid streams.

The eel lives in fresh water and estuaries and only leaves these habitats to enter the Atlantic Ocean to make its spawning migration to the Sargasso Sea. Spawning takes place far offshore, where the eggs hatch. The female can lay up to 4 million buoyant eggs and dies after egg-laying. After the eggs hatch and the early-stage larvae develop, the young eels move toward North America, where they metamorphose into glass eels and enter freshwater systems where they grow as yellow eels until they begin to mature.

American eels hunt predominantly at night, and during the day they hide in mud, sand, or gravel very close to shore, at depths of roughly five to six feet. They feed on crustaceans, aquatic insects, small insects, and probably any aquatic organisms that they can find and eat.

American eels are economically important in various areas along the East Coast as bait for fishing for sport fishes such as the striped bass, or as a food fish in some areas. Their recruitment stages, the glass eels, are also caught and sold for use in aquaculture, although this is now restricted in most areas.

Eels were once an abundant species in rivers, and were an important fishery for aboriginal people. The construction of hydroelectric dams has blocked their migrations and locally extirpated eels in many watersheds. For example, in Canada, the vast numbers of eels in the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers have dwindled.

The American eel Anguilla rostrata was first described in 1817 by Lesueur. Anguilla is Latin for eel, and rostrata is a Latin word that can mean either “beaked or curved” or “long nose”. French: Anguille d’Amérique, Spanish: Anguila americana.

Their natural range includes the eastern North Atlantic Ocean coastline from Venezuela to Greenland and including Iceland. Inland, this species extends into the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River and its tributaries as far upstream as Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Eels are bottom dwellers. They hide in burrows, tubes, snags, masses of plants, other types of shelters. They are found in a variety of habitats including streams, rivers, and muddy or silt-bottomed lakes during their freshwater stage, as well as oceanic waters, coastal bays and estuaries. During winter, eels burrow under the mud and enter a state of torpor (or complete inactivity) at temperatures below 5°C, although they may occasionally be active during this period.

Little information about predation on eels has been published. It was reported that elvers and small yellow eels are prey of largemouth bass and striped bass, although they were not a major part of these predators’ diet.

In the 1970s, the annual North Atlantic harvest had an averaged value of $84,000. In 1977, the eel landings from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts were about $263,000 (US Department of Commerce 1984).

Substantial decline in numbers and fishery landings of American eels over their range in eastern Canada and the U.S. was noted, raising concerns over the status of this species. The number of juvenile eels in the Lake Ontario area decreased from 935,000 in 1985 to about 8,000 in 1993 and was approaching zero levels in 2001. Rapid declines were also recorded in Virginia, as well as in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, in Canada.

Because of its complex life cycle, the species face a broad range of threats, some of which are specific to certain growth stage. Being catadromous, the eels’ reproductivity success depends heavily on free downstream passage for spawning migration. It also depends on the availability of diverse habitats for growth and maturation.

Sex ratio in the population can also be affected because males and females tend to utilize different habitats. Impacts on certain regions may greatly impact the number of either sex.

Despite being able to live in a wide range of temperatures and different levels of salinity, American eels are very sensitive to low dissolved oxygen level, which is typically found below dams. Contaminations of heavy metals, dioxins, chlordane, and polychlorinated biphenyls as well as pollutants from nonpoint source can bioaccumulate within the fat tissues of the eels, causing dangerous toxicity and reduced productivity. This problem is exacerbated due to the high fat content of eels.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reviewed the status of the American eel both in 2007 and in 2015, finding both times that Endangered Species Act protection for the American eel is not warranted. The Canadian province of Ontario has canceled the commercial fishing quota since 2004. Eel sport fishery has been closed.

Sustainable consumption

In 2010, Greenpeace International has added the American eel to its seafood red list. “The Greenpeace International seafood red list is a list of fish that are commonly sold in supermarkets around the world, and which have a very high risk of being sourced from unsustainable fisheries.” OK, this is running a little longer than usual, but the eel is an interesting fish that has a bad reputation, but most people know very little about.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

In what year was game 3 of the World Series postponed due to an earthquake?

Answer can be found here.

photo by Eric W. Austin

by Roland D. Hallee

It’s always a sad time of the year when we have to close up camp. That is a ritual my wife and I do every year on the last weekend of September. While taking a break during last Saturday’s “just gorgeous” day, we started to rehash the last six months.

It has been a strange summer, with many of the observations we discussed while sitting on the deck. It actually all started back in March and early April. It is said that a 40-year-old maple tree should produce approximately 10 gallons of sap to make maple syrup. I have two trees that I tap in my backyard. This year, those two trees produced 48 gallons of sap. Do the math, it doesn’t add up. They produced more than double what they should have produced.

Then, on to May. We didn’t realize it at the time, but later we would conclude that the black flies this year were not all that bad. And that was followed by a summer when mosquito numbers were down. Even the dreaded browntail moth caterpillar was nowhere to be found. I saw one in late spring-early summer.

Another strange occurrence, we only saw three June bugs in late May and early June. This is compared to some years when, in one particular season, we counted 53 June bugs in one night.

We moved on from there, and noticed that the cicadas, the insect that “sings” (buzzes) during the hot summer days of July. I, personally, didn’t hear one until July 26. Remember the old farmers folklore? From the day you first hear a cicadae, we will get the first killing frost 90 days from that time. However, that is not the problem. I probably heard cicadas less than a half dozen times during the hot days of summer. Unusual. You normally hear them almost every sunny day. Oh, by the way, the first killing frost should come around October 22.

How about the hickory tussock caterpillar? The fuzzy white one with the long black “feelers” that usually show up in abundance in August. If you just make incidental contact with them they can leave you with a rash. I have not seen one yet.

Another caterpillar is the wooly bear, which usually predicts the severity of a winter depending on the length of the rust-colored bar on its body, and usually makes its appearance around early to mid September. So far, I have not seen one. You usually see them crossing the road everywhere. Nothing, so far, this year.

Over the last couple of weeks, however, we have heard and seen an unusually large number of Canada geese settling on Webber Pond for their break before continuing south.

This summer, we have gone through an unusually long, hot, dry spell. A time when we are pestered by yellow jackets who are in search of moisture. Well, they made their presence known this year, especially in July and August. So far, I haven’t seen a nest. So, that predictor of upcoming weather will be unreliable. Old folklore has it that the amount of snow you will receive over the winter is forecasted by where you find the nests. The higher, the more snow you can expect.

For those of you who have taken vacation time to go leaf peeping, it’s not happening at the same time this year. Have you noticed that, here in early October, the trees have just started to change colors.

One thing that did remain constant was the hummingbirds arriving and departing on schedule. Even the annual overrun by the harvestmen (daddy long legs) was not all that bad.

Things, overall, just don’t seem right in 2022. But, following some research of my journal, I found we had similar summers in 2015 and 2018. Maybe not as hot and humid, but very similar with respect to natural activities.

Even some of the old, reliable folklore observations are inconsistent. Peelings on the onions have been thin and easy to peel, indicating a mild winter, while the squirrels have some of the bushiest tails I have ever seen, an indication of a severe winter. Again, not having seen a bee hive is unreliable.

You can probably blame it on climate change; El Nino, La Nina or polar vortex, but it’s just not normal. Weather folklore warnings of a harsh winter are based on La Nina.

However, three almost identical summers within a seven-year span could spell the beginning of a pattern. I’ve heard many predictions on our upcoming winter. I don’t believe any of them. I will continue to get ready for a “Maine winter.” The oil tank is full, snowblower tuned up, and shovels ready to go. Are you?

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Outside of Bailey Zappe, who was the last Patriots rookie quarterback to win his first NFL start?

Answer can be found here.

Barred owl

by Roland D. Hallee

Last Thursday night my wife woke me from a sound sleep to listen to something outside our camp. Well, being somewhat groggy, I didn’t hear anything, and went back to sleep. It wasn’t long afterwards that she woke me again.

“Can’t you hear that?” she inquired sounding a little frustrated – You see, my wife tells me I’m going deaf.

I sat up, and listened attentively. “OK, I hear it, it’s a Barred Owl,” I told her.

She persisted. “Listen carefully.”

What I then heard made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It was at least two, maybe three, barred owls caterwauling to each other. This was at about 11 p.m. I had heard Barred Owls behind camp a thousand times, but never anything like this. It was almost as intriguing as listening to loons calling to each other.

The “who cooks for you, who cooks for you all” call was unmistakable. But, I think it was a strange time of year for them to engage in this activity. This is usually done during the spring courtship, when one will vocalize to its mate, and vice versa. There were times when it was so loud and sustained, it almost sounded like a barking dog.

These calls are most heard at night or in twilight, and especially during the breeding season. However, calls can be heard year round since these birds do not migrate. They are very territorial, and will chase away intruders with loud hoots. These vocalizations become more frequent during the mating season, where female birds make invitation calls to mate with males.

Scientists, however, have debated that the calls of Barred Owls are much more diverse than we think. The research indicates that more needs to be known about the Barred Owls before they can deduce more about its behaviors in and out of the breeding season. Owls in general can be a difficult species of bird to study since they are mainly nocturnal and are not incredibly active until the breeding season.

Barred Owls, Strix varia, are easiest to find when they are active at night, but they are easier to hear than to see. From a distance, their calls can sound like a barking dog. They prefer mature forests, and their main diet is small mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

Since the 1960s, Barred Owls have expanded their range to the Pacific Coast where they are considered invasive. That is because it is believed they are partly to blame for the recent decline of the northern Spotted Owl, which is native to British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California. When Barred Owls and Spotted Owls occupy the same space, the Barred Owl is more aggressive and will out-compete the Spotted Owl. Barred Owls have even been known to kill Spotted Owls. Interbreeding is also suspected.

In 2007, White House officials announced a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to shoot Barred Owls in order to reduce the threat to the Spotted Owls. If implemented, it was estimated 2,150 to 2,850 Barred Owls should be taken over a five to 10 year period. It is feared that increased populations of Barred Owls could eventually render the Spotted Owl extinct. Environmentalists fear increased blame on Barred Owls for declining Spotted Owl numbers will result in less attention being paid to territorial protections and resumption of logging in protected Spotted Owl habitat.

According to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office, the experiment is ongoing and results are still being studied.

An adult Barred Owl can be anywhere from 16 – 25 inches long and weigh 1.1 to 2.3 pounds, with a wingspan of 38-49 inches. The Barred Owl is the only true owl of the eastern United States which has brown eyes. All others have yellow eyes.

The upper parts are a gray/brown, the underparts are light with markings. The chest is barred horizontally while the belly is striped vertically. The legs and feet are covered with feathers to the talons, and the head is round with no ear tufts.

Even though they are primarily nocturnal, they generally hunt near dawn or dusk, swooping down from a high perch, to take their prey.

We haven’t heard them in over a week, but I know they are still out there. I can’t wait for the next concert.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

What Red Sox player was hit by a pitch an American League record 35 times in the 1986 season: Carl Yazstremski, Don Baylor, or Jim Rice?

Answer can be found here.

Giant Water Bug

by Roland D. Hallee

While I was playing cornhole last Friday night, I was interrupted while in the process of preparing for my next toss. It was pointed out to me that something was attached to the leg of my pants.

It was approximately two to three inches long, black/brown – at least in the evening light. Someone said it was a cicadae, but I knew better. I wasn’t sure what it was.

We sent it on its way.

Research told me it was a giant water bug,

Belostomatidae is a family of freshwater insects known as giant water bugs or colloquially as toe-biters, Indian toe-biters, electric-light bugs, alligator ticks, or alligator fleas (in Florida). They are the largest insects in the order. There are about 170 species found in freshwater habitats worldwide.

These predators are typically encountered in freshwater ponds, marshes and slow-flowing streams. They can grow to up to 4.5 inches and nearly reach the length of some of the largest beetles in the world. Giant water bugs are a popular food in parts of Asia.

They have a flattened, egg-shaped body, and usually the legs are flattened. The head features two large compound eyes, but lacks the eye-like spot. Short antennae are tucked in grooves behind the eyes. A short breathing tube can be retracted into its abdomen. Adults cannot breathe under water, so must periodically place the breathing tube at the surface for air (similar to a snorkel).

Their hind legs have two claws. The frontal legs are modified into raptorial appendages that they use to grab their prey. Once caught, the prey are stabbed with their proboscis and a powerful saliva is injected, allowing the bug to suck out the liquefied remains. Wing pads can be seen from the dorsal view. They have a greatly reduced flight apparatus and are flightless.

The giant water bugs are aggressive predators that stalk, capture, and feed on fish, amphibians, as well as aquatic invertebrates such as snails and crustaceans. The largest species have also been found to capture and feed on baby turtles and water snakes. They often lie motionless at the bottom of a body of water, attached to various objects, where they wait for prey to come near. They then strike, injecting a venomous digestive saliva with their rostrum. Although their bite is excruciatingly painful, it is of no medical significance. Occasionally, when encountered by a larger animal or a human, they have been known to “play dead” and most species can emit a fluid from their anus. Due to this, they are assumed dead by humans only to later “come alive” with painful results.

These water bugs show paternal care and these aspects have been studied extensively. In species of the subfamily, the eggs are typically laid on the male’s wings and carried until they hatch. The male cannot mate during this period. The males invest considerable time and energy in reproduction and females take the role of actively finding males to mate. This role reversal matches the predictions of R. L. Trivers’ parental investment theory where the eggs are laid on emergent vegetation and guarded by the male.

In some areas of Asia, they are considered a delicacy, and can be found for sale in markets. This is mainly in South and Southeast Asia. In South and Southeast Asia they are often collected for this purpose using large floating traps on ponds, set with black lights to attract the bugs. Adults fly at night, like many aquatic insects, and are attracted to lights during the breeding season.

I don’t know where it came from, or where it went, I don’t know why it chose me among the dozen and half people who were there that night.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

In what year did the Patriots move from Boston to Foxborough and changed their name to the New England Patriots?

Answer can be found here.