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Wednesday, July 28 2010 9:26 am |
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Everyone knows it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature, but every once in a while, the old girl has a way of turning the tables on us.
Local photographer Harold Pete...
For local nature photographer, Harold Peterson, snapping a great picture of a piebald fawn nicknamed “Mickey” and his normally-colored twin sister, “Minnie” was a first for him.
Not to be confused with an albino deer, piebald deer, sometimes referred to as “pintos” have patches of white hair but are otherwise normally colored. It is estimated that the genetic defect occurs once in every 3,000 to 4,000 adult deer. Wildlife biologists concur that the gene producing this abnormality not only increases the amount of white on the animal, but often causes other less-desirable traits to occur like bowing of the nose, shorter legs, curvature or arching of the spine, shorter mandibles and malformation of internal organs. Most of these defects prevent the piebald deer from surviving into adulthood, and their unusual coloring robs them of their natural camouflage in the woods, thus making them a target to predators.
“My friend called me and told me to come out to his house – that the twins were lying down in the valley on his property,” Peterson said. “He said originally, he thought the piebald deer was a goat – he’s got so much white on him.”
Living along Dixie Highway, just south of Grange Hall Road, Peterson drove to his friend’s home and parked across the road.
Initially spooked by Peterson’s presence, the twins took off, only to come back a short time later and give Peterson the photo op for which he had hoped.
"Baby Dave" was a frequent vis...
I too, had the pleasure of seeing a piebald deer in the wild – back in 2001 at my brother’s cabin. “Baby Dave” as they called him used to come in from the woods behind their cabin with his normally-colored sister and mother to raid leftovers from the birdfeeder. I was lucky enough to have my camera and get his picture, and to this day, my brother and sister-in-law often think of Dave and his family’s frequent visits.
Interestingly noted, in order to produce piebald offspring, both the mother and father must possess the recessive trait. If only one parent carries the recessive gene, a normal colored fawn will result – one reason why piebald deer are more prevalent in larger deer populations. Unlike an albino deer, it’s perfectly legal to harvest a piebald deer in Michigan.
It is illegal to shoot an albi...
Albino deer are far more rare, and because of an “interest to protect this unique aspect of wild deer,” are protected under the MDNRE. Albino whitetails typically have pink skin, pink eyes and a pure white coat. Due to the lack of melanin in the albino’s eyes, their sight is often impaired. Sight problems coupled with his coloring make him very vulnerable to predators.
Copies of Peterson’s “Mickey and Minnie” photograph can be purchased by calling Peterson at (248) 634-5999. More of Peterson’s work is on display at Holly Art and Framing, 201 S. Saginaw St., Holly.
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Saturday, July 10 2010 11:14 am |
The squirrels at our cottage e... It’s true – we love going to our little cabin in Irish Hills on most summer weekends, and over all the years we’ve been doing it, one thing has never changed - the squirrels.
Nestled away on a hill not far from the lake, our cabin is surrounded by hickory trees, and every year, the trees sprout a healthy crop of hickory nuts – some years more than others.
With the nuts naturally come the squirrels, and in the decade that we’ve shared this space with our furry friends, we’ve swept pounds and pounds of hickory nut shavings from our small deck, and watched as they’ve launched more “bombs” from the branches above than all of Hollywood.
The fact is, it can be rather amusing to watch a clueless weekend guest experience their first encounter with nut-dropping rodent.
Just last weekend, my mother-in-law was sitting on the deck in the early morning hours, enjoying a glass of orange juice while quietly reading a book. With the accuracy of the Red Baron himself, a squirrel shattered her solitude by dropping a hickory nut from nearly 20 feet above directly into her juice glass.
The sound of the nut hitting the glass combined with the impromptu splash of juice onto the pages of her book was enough to cause my mother-in-law to shriek. Of course we all had a good laugh – that’s how it always is with the squirrels.
Misguided nuts routinely hit our roof – often times in the wee hours of the morning or at night, sometimes even ricocheting off a metal roof vent, startling us all.
And if the squirrels have been partaking a little too much in the elderberries – well then you can expect plenty of randomly dropped nuts, and maybe even a stumbling squirrel or two among the branches.
In the beginning, my husband was fascinated by them so much that he engineered a little invention that a friend of ours designed. Installed properly, it would keep us entertained for hours.
Our friend, "Squirrely Mel" in...
Using a broom handle, he affixed a spike to one end, and a weight at the other. In the middle, he fastened a spinning device that once attached to the tree, would cause the broom handle to move in propeller-type fashion. After he installed it properly, he would put a piece of Indian corn on the spike and together, we would wait for our first “victim.”
Sure enough, within a few minutes, one of our squirrels would hop on the end of the broom and begin eating the corn – evidently a nice supplement to a hickory nut diet. With the mass of the squirrel and the corn outweighing the weight on the opposite end, we’d watch “Rocky” cling to the corn while eating it, spinning in circle after circle. It was downright hypnotic – and funny, too.
We knew from the start – we’d have to adapt to the squirrels’ lifestyle – not the other way around. Yep, when life handed us nuts, we had to make peanut butter, and boy, has it been fun!
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Wednesday, July 07 2010 9:33 pm |
Janeen Maskal caught this larg... HOLLY, Michigan – Janeen Moskal of Holly hadn’t caught a thing all day on June 26 – that was until she and her husband Chris decided to call it a day. As they were waiting to use the boat slip on Big Seven Lake, Janeen threw her large, purple worm with a neon green tail into the lily pads, hooking into one dandy of a largemouth bass that would make the day all worthwhile.
“I had a hard time landing him,” Janeen said. “My husband helped me get him into the boat and get the hooks out.” As the Moskals hurried to return the fish back to the water, they snapped a quick photo of him before releasing him unharmed. In their haste they failed to weigh or measure him, but he still qualifies for “Catch of the Week” honors.
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Monday, July 05 2010 5:59 pm |
2010 Major Division All Stars HOLLY, Michigan – Holly Little Leaguers are hanging up their cleats and putting away their mitts for another year after officially completing a successful season on the baseball diamonds, all culminating last Wednesday at the end of All Star Week.
With teams from Coach Pitch, Minor, Major and T-ball divisions all taking part in All Star week, it was the 5 Star Recovery Tigers winning it for the Major Division, and the Szott Ford Yankees winning all the marbles for Minor Division
2010 Minor Division All Stars
Holly Little League Coordinator John Copley said the Junior Boys division continues to play, while the girl’s softball teams competed with mental toughness in the Quadtown League.
Copley said Holly Little League’s end-of-the-season picnic is slated for Saturday, August 7 from noon until 5 p.m. at the baseball fields. In addition to the picnic and awards, a dunk tank, bounce house, games, raffles and more will be provided.
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Monday, June 28 2010 2:52 pm |
Blackberries are particularly ... Just as the “smart” phones that are so common these days may be generically referred to as a “Blackberry” – those sweet fruits on thorny plants are also, generically referred to as blackberries.
They’re everywhere in abundance this year. Whether it’s the result of our winter or spring or the amount of rain and sun, we’ve got plenty of blackberries for everyone. For the record, the common berries we see on road banks and hillsides and in the brambles along creeks, are probably black raspberries. The difference between raspberries and blackberries is easy to distinguish when the berry is picked. The base of a blackberry comes off smoothly, leaving a “complete” berry. The base of a raspberry leaves a cone shaped core that stays with the bush and results in a hollowed out berry.
Blackberries and raspberries grow in a similar manner and they can be both a curse and a blessing. If you have time to harvest and make use of the berries, they are a great, low maintenance fruit. If you are trying to eradicate the thorny bushes, it can be quite a struggle. The berries are eaten by almost all woodland animals and game birds. Each berry is an aggregate fruit comprised of a cluster of many tiny round berries with individual seeds. One animal or bird that eats these berries can spread many, many seeds during a summer. Seeds can be dormant for up to 15 years before germination. Clearing trees, cutting brush – even mowing can make a tangled thicket of berry bushes appear in one season.
The berries are rich in antioxidants due to a high content of anthocyanins and ellagic acid. Black raspberries have an extensive history in medicinal cures, are frequently referred to in the Native American culture and even have reference as an ancient cure for gout in the Roman Empire.
When berry picking, some things to be careful about include thorns, spiders, mosquitoes, poison ivy, and more thorns. One thing most frustrating when picking berries – is to have your footing slip, swat at a mosquito, or disengage from a stalk of thorns and have your whole basket of berries go flying into the air. Other than that, harvesting these wonderful, wild berries is quite rewarding. The ripe ones come off the stem easily and can go directly into hundreds of recipes, if they make it all the way to your kitchen.
Although poison ivy is often found near black raspberries and blackberries, the poison ivy has no thorns, it always has three leaflets and there are no “teeth” on the leaf margins.
The average black raspberry thicket can be harvested for a couple of weeks after they start ripening. When it’s good berry weather (such as this year) you can pick the ripe ones just about every other day. After gently rinsing and draining the berries, they can be frozen on a cookie sheet and stored in plastic bags in the freezer, if you are trying to accumulate a lot for making jam or preserves.
We have a brief window of opportunity to take advantage of these local treats. Anyone up for a best berry recipe challenge?
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