12.09.2006

Work Swamp Tidbits


Typical black bear calling card, a nice pile of scat in the middle of the path. This one is full of smilax seeds and some other seeds I haven't IDed yet. The bears will be active as long as there is food available.


This is bittersweet...but which one? It could be American bittersweet or it could be Oriental bittersweet. It's driving me crazy!! I don't want to have to wait until spring to figure this one out.


Just when you think it is safe to go in the woods... Black-legged Tick, Ixodes scapularis

8 comments:

Anvilcloud said...

Gee thanks. :)

I don't think I've ever seen a photo of bear scat before. I know: sheltered life.

Cathy said...

Something for everyone :0) Great post. Does that little guy carry the micro-organisms we are resigned to worrying about as we approach the great outdoors?

Rurality said...

Hubby had a tock on him last week too, even after some cold weather.

People on the other side of the mountain from us claim to have seen black bears, but I'm suspicious. I imagine their scat is pretty large... I've never found any.

swamp4me said...

AC,
I have lots of pictures of bear scat. Pretty much a bear-scat-through-the-year album. Perhaps I shall post them all one day as a tribute to one of my favorite mammals :)

Cathy,
Yep, that's the little critter that carries Lyme. We don't have a very high incidence of Lyme disease here, thank goodness.

Rurality,
Black-legged ticks are pretty common winter ticks here. I've found them crawling on me even in the coldest months. Luckily, they don't tend to be out in huge numbers like the lone star ticks that make summer so treacherous.

SquirrleyMojo said...

bears have the prettiest scat . . .

R.Powers said...

Looking forward to your scatalog.

SquirrleyMojo said...

seriously, a scatalog's not a bad idea . . . could make a coffee table book . . . if you needed a twist, try making into a Rorschach test.

swamp4me said...

SQMojo,
You keep trying to get me to do a book...maybe one of these days I'll give it a try. Who knows, maybe a children's book entitled Who's Poo Are You? could be in my future.