Wildlife!

Living and working where I do (in the back woods of Maine), I get to see a lot of wildlife. I don't usually carry my camera with me in the field, so I only have a few pictures to share with you. Also, fun wildlife stories! But first, a list of the various animals we've seen:

• lots of turkeys (some with poults!)
• lots of deer
• a few moose
• various hawks (which I can't yet identify further than "Look! A hawk!")
• ducks (some with ducklings!)
• lots of rabbits
• a beautiful barred owl
• a muskrat (used to live in the backyard)
• an otter (passed through the backyard one day)
• many snapping turtles
• a few painted turtles
• a porcupine
• Cedar Waxwings (plus tons of other small birds that I cannot (yet) identify, but I think these guys are adorable)
• Ruffed Grouse and Spruce Grouse

And probably others, but those are all I can think of at the moment. Pictures (but only a couple):



And one interesting wildlife story, about Ruffed Grouse: the Ruffed Grouse mom has a neat little display she does to protect her chicks. When she feels threatened (e.g., when we're driving by in our big truck), she hunches over, drags one of her wings on the ground, and makes this pathetic sound, looking just like an injured bird. She also takes off in the opposite direction from her chicks, luring the "predators" (in this case, us) away from her babies, who then fly up into the trees or just sort of scatter into the brush if they're not quite up to flying yet. It's a very convincing display (although the one we found couldn't decide whether to lure us with her injured act or puff herself up and hiss, and switching back and forth between those two tactics was not very effective). Really exciting to see up close, though.

That's all for tonight! Posts to look for in the future include: pictures of our study subjects, fun things to do in Maine, and an update on the work situation (the baby frogs are emerging!).