Evidence of an early morning visit by the two young bobcats that have been hanging around. I even found where one had eaten river cane leaves to purge some worms from its stomach -- yes, I took a picture, but I'll spare you ;)
Mother Nature is still providing some color down near the water...
7 comments:
Wow, that's super interesting re: the river cane. I'd never heard of that. What species is river cane? Gotta love bobcats self-medicating. wow!
Several years ago I wrote a paper for a college class about animals self-medicating with plants, mostly for things like you witnessed: ridding themselves of parasites. It's a very cool topic.
Lovely new header photo!
Biobabbler,
The cane is Arundinaria. It is a native plant that grows quite well in the swamp.
Ellen,
I started to preserve one of the roundworms and send it to my son so he could ID it for me. We're an odd family, I guess ;)
Wow. One wonders if the knowledge that eating river cane leaves purges worms is learned behavior or instinctual? Fascinating.
WE,
Cane was probably the most convenient grass available to the cat. I think it's just like a house cat or a dog eating grass and then tossing their cookies. Maybe it is only a response to an upset stomach and not indicative of knowledge of the presence of the worms.
I never would have even considered this! How amazing! I get very excited when I see cat sign out on the trail. ~karen
Maybe the original bobcats ate from the River Cane of Knowledge and were condemned to throw up for eternity. What am I talking about? I have no idea.
Post a Comment