Nature Note:Meadow Vole

A meadow vole(Microtus pennsylvanicus) scampered across the driveway one August morning,from under a hedge to under an eastern red cedar.It was a rare sighting of the small mammal,a rodent most people never realise is around.They mainly eat grasses,roots,twigs and other vegetable matter and do not come indoors;nor are they considered a pest.*The meadow vole's colouration is variable,from reddish to blackish brown or gray,and it has a short tail.They range from Northern Canada and Alaska down the Rockies and Appalachians south to New Mexico and Northeast Georgia,favouring meadows,marshes and woodland glades.*These rodents have a system of runways and burrows.Prolific,they nest below ground or under rocks and logs in a grass or shredded bark nest.In winter,they nest under the snow.They are sometimes called field mice,and some species of voles are known for a cyclic buildup and crash of population,keyed to the food supply.*The meadow vole is pretty much of a ghostly creature.In more than 20 years,I have only noted them a handful of times along the Pennsylvania-Maryland border.

Nature Note:One Opossum Morning-a wildlife encounter

One morning in late July,I saw that the garage was a bit messed up,with snow shovels on the floor and dry leaves scattered about.It must have been a cat fooling around,I thought.When I opened the car hood,I saw what it really was that  had caused the ruckus:an opossum,North America's only marsupial,or pouched mammal.This unique animal even appears in a current TV commercial.
My opossum was lying still on her side on a big nest made of dry leaves and bits of plastic.She was "playing possum" with me,pretending to be dead.The nest was right up against the battery.She was actually a young opossum,born in the spring.I put some work gloves on and lifted her up.She hissed at me and bit me lightly with her many small teeth.I put her back down,fearing rabies.
I called Animal Control for assistance.Meantime,the animal had gotten deep within the engine.An animal control officer responded within an hour and poked her with a plastic baton.This indeed dislodged her.She ambled away across the drive,headed for a pine plantation.My guest the garage opossum hasn't been back since,convinced that engines are really no place for an arboreal mammal.

Covering Nature Again:Acorn Outlook

Although this blog has lately been concentrating on the maritime forces and military issues generally,it has in the past covered nature as well.Given its vague title,it could really dwell on any topic in the world.Some readers continue to discover and read those old nature posts,so I wanted to produce a new one.
The first days of summer can bring the natural world to the forefront of our senses.The next season is present in small ways even in the present one.
A large pin oak,for example,is promising a bumper crop of acorns for this autumn.There are many tiny acorns on it now.Last year was a rather poor one for acorn production.
That is the way with oak trees.They deprive mast-eating wildlife one year,only to make up for it the next.It's apparently a way of regulating wildlife,adjusting their population,ensuring that there will be plenty of new oaks as well as birds and mammals.
The chrysanthemums under the pin oak are budding already.They will soon start blooming,seizing the first minute decrease in day length.This step toward far-off autumn by the sun will not be noticeable until after the Fourth of July.Pennsylvania fireflies will continue to flash their signals in the late dusk.